2024-01-05 16:31:54
ANKARA: 34 people have been detained in a row accused of spying for Israel’s spy agency Mossad and planning a kidnapping. Turkey said it had raided 57 locations in Istanbul and elsewhere and was still searching for 12 suspects. Interior Minister Ali Yerlik shared the video of the Mossad agents being detained on social media. Three months following Israel’s massacre in Gaza, the news of further deterioration of relations between Turkey and Israel came out. It is indicated that Turkey has intensified surveillance following Israel attacked and killed Hamas leaders in Syria and Lebanon. Last month, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Israel that it would pay a heavy price if it tried to kill Hamas members on Turkish soil. As the war escalated, Israel carried out a drone attack in Beirut, Lebanon, killing Hamas Political Deputy Chief Saleh al-Aruri. After this, Mossad agents were detained en masse in Turkey.
The 34 people were detained by Turkey’s national intelligence organization, MIT, and the Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya Xil noted that the operation was part of an operation aimed at disrupting Mossad’s efforts to target foreign nationals. The suspects were arrested in eight provinces, including the country’s capital, Ankara, during the investigation, dubbed Operation Mole. He also accused the Mossad of planning to spy on and kidnap foreigners on Turkish soil. It has also been reported that one and a half million Euros, one quarter million dollars, an unlicensed gun and digital files were found. Meanwhile, Israel’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the arrest.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Israel’s intelligence agencies were working to assassinate Hamas leaders in the Middle East, including in Turkey. The Israeli media also published Shin Bet chief Ronan Barr’s suggestion that Israel has decided to kill the leaders of Hamas in all places in the world, including Qatar, Turkey and Lebanon. In November, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant said they would target Hamas leaders wherever they were. In July last year, Turkey announced the arrest of seven Arabs working for the Mossad. After various Arab countries continued their liberal policy with Israel, Turkey also moved in favor. Meanwhile, on October 7, Hamas canceled the reconciliation with Tufan al-Aqsa and Erdogan issued a stern warning once morest the Jewish state. Describing Hamas as freedom fighters, Erdogan’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was called the ‘butcher of Gaza’ and Israel a ‘terrorist state’. Since the beginning of the war, Erdogan has had close ties with the Hamas leadership
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